Pleiades

Pleiades researchers, working with their counterparts at Intel, Amazon, and in the open source domain, have initiated a significant virtual worlds benchmarking effort. Work has begun today.

The project source code repository will be based at the Open Metaverse Foundation (OMF), which will also communicate data to users of virtual worlds everywhere.

“We want to give developers and users of virtual worlds the technical information they need in order to make informed platform and software design decisions,” says James Neal, President of the OMF. The OMF also maintains the source code base for the Meerkat viewer.

John Hurliman, Intel’s leading analyst with respect to virtual worlds, describes the technical situation as it stands. “Many virtual worlds are being developed independently with a wide variety of architectures and protocols. There is a range of open and closed source implementations and an increasing demand to connect worlds together and provide common services. All virtual world platforms are currently plagued by scalability problems.”

Pleiades has long sought a means to scale up the services educational institutions provide and connect them across platforms, including virtual worlds.

“A better scaling and connectivity model for educators means a better price and quality model for learners,” says Patrick Edwards-Daugherty, President of Pleiades.

Initial results from the project can be expected as soon as March 31, 2010, according to Project Manager Amanda Levin.